I stared out over the sea of the soccer complex across the street from our house, young athletes and referees on the field, spectators lining the edge, so many camp chairs, blankets, people. Beyond that was a playground, where our babysitter had been playing with the kids, where Emily, our daughter with Downs syndrome, was... Continue Reading →
Ode to Bubble Gum Medicine and Good Night Juice
Five-year old, Maggie, woke from her nap glossy eyed and red in the cheeks. “Oh, baby, you’re burning up,” I kissed her forehead (the mom thermometer). The alarm went off in my mind. She had come home with a note from preschool letting parents know that there were a few cases of chicken pox among... Continue Reading →
Re-Adjusting the Viewfinder
“Beeeeeep…beep..be..beep,” At first, the sound of the infant heart monitor had woken us with a sense of heightened alarm, but soon it became a sort of reminder, and we woke with a heightened awareness. We went to check on our infant son, knowing that it would probably be a lead that came loose. Thankfully, for... Continue Reading →
The Cop With the Cookies
During the two years since my husband Lyle and I had moved our family to Fargo from Bismarck, we had found the most curious guardian angel in a female police officer. I had known Officer Cora Duin since I was a little girl. She is a remarkable woman, a dynamo, the very first uniformed female police officer... Continue Reading →
It Was a Really Scrawny Tree!
What could possibly be so hideously wrong with the image on the screen as to make the ultrasound tech purposely turn the screen away from our view? He looked so serious. What the heck could be wrong with our baby? Oh, jeez. Our baby is hideously deformed! Why is he so nervous? “Why did you... Continue Reading →
Did You Ever Have a Time, When You Couldn’t Make a Rhyme?
“Down by the bay Where the watermelons grow Back to my home I dare not go For if I do My mother will say ‘Did you ever see a moose Kissing a goose?’ Down by the bay” We were reveling in days of Raffi and grilled cheese. Who doesn’t love a good grilled cheese and... Continue Reading →
Defeated
The pharmacist rang up the medicine for treating the thrush in my infant daughter's mouth. I stood nervously holding her. I hated this part, but I swallowed my pride and said, "I need to put it on a charge." He looked at me awkwardly, "We don't use charge accounts here. You have to pay with... Continue Reading →
Snapshot
There truly are moments in time that stand still and stay preserved as snapshots in our minds. I sat in the recliner nursing my infant twins simultaneously in "football hold", just as I had learned it from the books I had read in preparation for mothering these babies. A playpen full of clean clothes sat... Continue Reading →
Love My Messy Life 